Our Demons Among Us
by ShadowSaberess
Summary: As a child Naruto had a best friend. They went though all the pain and suffering the village had to offer together. They were inseparable. Until she disappeared. Years later she returned, but this time shes not the same person everyone knew and loved.
1. Chapter 1

_It was raining. The sky was dark and miserable, cloudless. Her screams echoed through the air. Distraught, he searched the village, every nook and cranny she could fit into._

 _Nowhere. She was nowhere. Her screams were all around him, driving him mad._

 _With a bolt of lightning his surroundings lit up. He was surrounded by the villagers, and all the Leaf shinobi._

 _A thud behind him. With another flash of lightning he found her body on the ground, unmoving._

 _He screamed, scooping her small frame up in his arms, cradling her body close as the tears fell from his eyes._

" _No. . ." he whimpered, "no!"_

 _His chakra flared. His eyes narrowed._

 _He blinked and the scenery changed. He was in the mountains, a snowy region, dressed in winter gear. His team was with him._

 _They were all off on their own, fighting enemies shrouded in shadows. There was nothing but silence. Looking around, everything was in slow motion._

' _What. . is this?' He thought._

 _And then she was there._

 _The snow was gone. There was nothing but the darkness to keep them company._

 _Her icy breath pillowed out in small puffs between them. Her face was down, hiding her eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks and she let out a whimper._

" _Why? Why. . did you let them do it?"_

 _No words came from him. Nothing but a small squeak as he hung his head and clenched his fists._

 _She looked up, eyes narrowed and blazing red as a low growl formed in the back of her throat. "Why would you let them do this to me? Naruto!"_

 _She bared her fangs, snapping Naruto out of his trance._

 _Run._

 _Naruto turned on his heel in time for her fangs to sink into his throat._

"Hi. . Hikari. . " It was a dream. The same dream he's been having for weeks now. It's always about her; different variations of the same nightmare. Some nights they kill her, others it's him. Sometimes they save each other, if not from death then just by a simple sweet embrace.

She was gone. That much he knew. She disappeared years ago and never returned. He never gave up hope that one day he would see her again.

Naruto sighed and licked his parched lips. His throat was dry and scratchy from screaming all night, his bed completely disheveled.

He looked even worse. His skin was paler than his sheets; the dark bags under his eyes the only color on his face. His eyes were dark and bloodshot. It would take hours to look like himself again.

If only he had that time. The sun had already risen above the horizon, and while it wasn't time to leave he had no intentions of trying to rest anymore.

He skipped breakfast; he just had no appetite. A cold shower didn't help either. It didn't dull the ache in his throat, or the pounding in his head.

It was starting to get busy. The village was starting to wake up. Shops were opening, shinobi were rushing off to complete their missions, academy students rushing off to class.

A flash of pink caught his eye. Immediately he forced himself to perk up and put on a goofy grin.

"Sakura!" He chimed.

Sakura bit back a grimace at the squawk and waved. She waited for Naruto to bounce over before walking in to the classroom together, Sakura elbowing Ino away from the open seat next to Sasuke.

With a bitter laugh Naruto sat down below them, turning around to argue with Sasuke and Shikamaru, when the doors opened.

Naruto looked up and watched the three students take their seats, following the glistening red hair of the strange girl as she sat down next to Shino.

One of her underlings took the seat next to Naruto, obscuring his view. He bristled and gritted his teeth in frustration.

He hated them. They were nothing but bad news. They hated him. He was always picking fights with them.

The tension in the room thickened. Naruto was about to get up until Hinata laid a gentle hand on his arm. She shook her head in a silent plea. He sat down in a huff, muttering under his breath.

Her underling was watching from the corner of his goggles, eyes narrowed slightly. He snorted and crossed his arms, leaning back slightly. Finally Naruto was able to see.

Behind the tinted goggles on her face he could see her eyes were closed. Her black hair was faintly shining a red sheen, hung over her cheeks. Her arms were crossed, and her jaw muscles were working as if she were chewing.

A pain struck his chest. Anger built up behind it and he slammed his fists down on the table.

The room jumped and fell silent, watching.

The girl had one eye open now, watching silently. Her face betrayed nothing, but her underlings had the faintest bit of amusement in their eyes.

He was grinding his teeth again. He just wanted the teams to be named already so he could start training with his sensei. The room was incredibly stuffy, and he was getting all sorts of weird looks and whispers.

Minutes became hours as the Hokage was the last to speak, to congratulate them on graduating from the academy and becoming shinobi.

Naruto was in team seven with Sasuke and Sakura, with Kakashi as their sensei. Their first training day would be tomorrow, and Naruto was looking forward to it. He psyched himself up as he left the classroom with his new teammates. He would be the greatest shinobi ever!

As long as he could get over the final cold stare of the strange girl.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the first day of training for Team Seven. The three shinobi stood waiting on the bridge for their new sensei, Kakashi. There was little conversation as they waited, but each had their mind racing with what he would look like.

Was he tall? Short? Was he loud like Naruto? Or quiet like Sasuke? Maybe he was handsome, Sakura wondered as she swooned over Sasuke.

Minutes turned into hours. "He probably ditched us," Sasuke huffed.

Finally, they heard a cheerful shout and up strolled two sensei's.

"Well, sorry to keep you all waiting," the silver haired masked stranger piped. "I'm your sensei, Kakashi Hatake. And this- " he motioned to his companion- "is Haito Tenara. He was just accompanying me along the way."

Haito made no notion he heard Kakashi. He was almost twice the size of their sensei, with jet black hair and piercing red eyes. After eyeing they students before him he muttered a farewell and walked off.

They began awkward introductions and spent the rest of the afternoon getting acquainted.

The next morning, they received their first mission: as fabulous as trash picking sounded, only Naruto opened his mouth.

The days following were the same. They would group in the morning for their small missions and head out. At the end of the day, Iruka would treat his favorite pupil to a bowl or three of ramen.

The last mission of the week involved picked herbs on a small hill on the outskirts of the village. The hill, though, was frequently visited by bandits and thieves for the rare herbs.

Team seven headed out and sought their way up the hill. They went to work picking small red tufts of leaves and yellow stems.

With a goofy grin Naruto began to pluck every last stem and tuft, until there was one last bright red leaf near the edge of the hill. His hand shot out for it but instead made contact with another.

Naruto looked up to the form of the strange girl plucking the last red tuft, half her body over the edge of the hill. Her eyes flicked up towards his, hidden behind the red glass of the goggles over her eyes.

With a quiet grunt she snagged the tuft between her teeth and let herself fall from the hill, but not before Naruto saw the conflicted expression that fell across her face. He sat there confused for a moment before shrugging it off and returning to the village with his team.

As per usual Iruka treated him to ramen, where he told the sensei how his mission had gone and the incident with that weird girl.

Iruka listened quietly to the tale, and offered his input between bites. "Well, it certainly seems you've taken an interest in this young girl." He smiled wistfully.

Naruto downed the rest of his bowl trying not to choke, setting it down with a noticeably red face. "Blech, not at all."

He was quiet for a moment, staring at the empty bowl lost in thought. He didn't notice as a new one was placed in front of him.

"Naruto?" The sensei gave him a worried look.

"I still dream about her Iruka," Naruto murmured quietly.

Iruka gave him a mournful look, full of understanding, and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You need some closure Naruto."

His student looked up at him.

"I don't know what happened to Hikari," he continued softly, averting his eyes, "but continuing to go on like this no good for you. It seems to me this new girl has some weird effect on you. Why don't you try to talk to her? Maybe. . . maybe you'll learn something new."

Naruto said nothing. He let his sensei's words sink in. With a soft thanks he got up and left, eyes following his retreat.

Iruka let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

Teuchi, who was quiet all this time, finally spoke up. "This all sounds pretty fishy to me." Iruka eyed him thoughtfully.

"But," he continued, "I suppose it's none of my business what goes on with you shinobi. Whatever secrets you all hold, do you really think it's best to keep them, for what its's worth?"

Iruka shook his head and smiled sadly. "It's not our place to say anything. When they're ready, everything will come out into the open. Until then, it's best left to fall on deaf ears."


End file.
